Today we decided to visit the main cathedral here in Amiens. A few fun facts about this historic Catholic church, the original construction plans were designed by a single person and was completed within his lifetime. Construction started in 1220 and was finished in 1288. During this time the chief engineer changed hands three times all within the same family. The Notre Dame d'Amiens is the tallest cathedral in Western europe coming in at 138.8 feet tall at the highest internal part of the vaulted nave and is supported by 126 pillars. The interior volume of the cathedral is 200,000 square meters, making it the largest overall cathedral in France. The cathedral is so large that the famous Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris can fit inside of the Notre Dame in Amiens, twice. The total dimensions of the monument are 476 feet long 230 feet wide and 138.8 feet high, with 1 spire reaching 370 feet into the sky. The stained glass currently within the windows of the cathedral is all original. The majority of the stained glass that is missing was destroyed during the two world wars. The cathedral was named as a UNESCO World Site in 1981, and in the 1990s crews laser cleaned the front of the church, thus realizing that the stone had originally been painted. Archaeological crews did meticulous testing to discover the original colors of the stone. Because of this work during summer nights and during the month of december, there's lights that turn on to show how the original colors would have looked on the cathedral.
So what sparked the idea to build such a large cathedral in a small town in north France? Well it was John the Baptist, or I guess lets just say his head. The head of Saint John the Baptist resides within this cathedral. It was brought here after the fourth crusade in 1206 after the sack of Constantinople. The head was placed within a magnificent reliquary and is the focus of the entire cathedral. Also another focus of parts of the cathedral are to all of the countries who participated in the Great War within the Somme region.
So now that the history lesson is complete, I will describe how our walk went and display some of our favorite photos. The rest of the photos can be seen in our photo section since there is about 70 of them from today. Pictures of the cathedral when it is lit are on there way, but that doesn't happen till June so it will be a little while. Also, there will be more pictures of the cathedral using the DSLR camera once it gets a little warmer and I can stand to be outside longer. This little trip took us on a different path than we usually walk, but it was nice to see a other parts of the city. On our way we saw a few green parks that might be nice to sit at, as well as several restaurants and even an Irish pub.
This is a quick picture of our apartment building form the entrance to the complex. It is pretty nice looking compared to some of the other buildings around us. We were excited about our walk today because we could actually see blue sky!
This is a picture of our street Rue de Tienturiers. The buildings on the right are part of the University Jessica is going to this semester, although it is for the school of arts and design.
The Somme River runs right through this town and intertwines several times with a majority of the main roads. This is one part of the river where people can walk down by the river and feed the ducks as they pass by.
The church of Saint-Leu is an older church that is on the way to the cathedral from our apartment. We tried to go inside and check it out, but the doors were still locked even though the hours said it should be open. Oh well, that is just one of the quirks about living in Europe. I am sure we will catch it open at a different time.
These two pictures are of Jess and I standing in a spot where you can see the church of Saint-Leu and the Cathedral in the background!
The cathedral is massive and with a small point and shoot camera coinciding with the excitement to get inside makes it kind of difficult to get a great picture of the exterior. We got a few others in the photos section, but I kind of liked how the sky looked behind the Cathedral in this one. As a side note they do give guided tours, but it is only in French. However, I think the tours allow you to climb up one of the towers so it may be well worth the 7 euros even if you don't know what they are saying!
I like this photo for a size comparison. I have been to several cathedrals in a few different countries here in Europe. Besides the Basilica of St. Peter no other cathedral stands out to me as having such massive proportions. Jess looks so tiny in front of the entrance and that is just a portion of the front of the church.
This is the west window inside the church. The stained glass is original and makes the inside really glow with all shades of blue, purple and yellows. Next time we go visit the cathedral we plan on going earlier in the day, so I can get better lighting for the photos. It started getting dark inside the cathedral as we finished up. Jessica and I, would like to say thank you to everyone for reading the blog. As always if you have any suggestions please let us know in the comments section. If there is anything you want specific photos of just let us know and we will do our best to get them. Until next time safe traveling!
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